


Breathe In

by blue_veins



Category: Rusty Quill RPF
Genre: ADHD vibes, Anxiety, M/M, sometimes you just need a good steady voice and a strong hand to calm you down, the most subtle of d/s undertones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24557356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_veins/pseuds/blue_veins
Summary: Ben is having a rough recording session, Alex takes a few minutes to ground him in the moment.
Relationships: Alexander J Newall/Ben Meredith
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Breathe In

**Author's Note:**

> Two things  
> 1\. Please, don't share this with anyone involved, don't be that person.  
> 2\. This is just having a bit of fun, don't be a dick.
> 
> edit: i got rid of the dna tag and added some actually useful ones because if you end up in rpf then you meant to be here. read if you will

Ben just couldn’t stop fidgeting. He was full of energy and that always made it difficult to sit for a recording session. He had to keep from tapping or hitting the table, or it would just give more work to the editors, which he always felt bad for when he did it on accident. It just felt like there was electricity sparking under his skin, and was only eased when he shook it out. He did the best he could to limit his fidgeting to hand motions, and straightening his mustache that didn’t need it. 

He couldn’t find his voice half the time, knew he was unusually quiet, but anytime he spoke up he interrupted or talked over someone else, ruining the audio, and he felt terrible about it.

Alex kept throwing concerned expressions his way, and he just wanted to reassure him, he was fine, it was  _ fine _ , but he had already started the timer and they were already recording and this really wasn’t so bad that he needed to stop. He just needed to focus. 

“Aaaaand, I think we’ll take a break there.” Alex stopped the recording as the others got up to stretch their legs. “Doing great, see you back here at half eleven.” He gave Ben a quick hand motion; palm flat, pointed down, at a slight angle, asking him to stay until after the others left. 

After they had all filed out, likely heading to the kitchen for snacks and drinks, Alex brought his full attention to Ben. He pulled himself to the edge of his seat and leaned in close (they already sat close enough for this to not be terribly difficult) and rested his hand on the side of Ben’s neck, thumb brushing the hinge of his jaw “Hey, are you alright?” 

Ben’s eyes fluttered at the touch, and couldn’t help but lean into it, “Y-yeah, I’m alright. Just… a lot of energy, nowhere to go. You know how it gets.”

Alex hummed in response, gently rubbing his thumb against his skin, “Do you want to take a few more minutes here?”

“Please?” 

“Of course. Just breathe with me, yeah?” Alex gave a slight squeeze to his neck before leaning in and pressing their foreheads together. 

Ben found Alex’s free hand with his own and grasped it, focusing on the points of contact, matching his breathing with Alex’s. Ben would never be over how Alex’s touch instantly calmed him, grounding him in the moment, calming that electric buzzing under his skin. Ben couldn’t say how long they stayed like that, just breathing each other in, but whether it had been thirty seconds or ten minutes, it helped immeasurably. 

Ben pulled back slightly, and Alex sat back a short ways, keeping his hand on Ben’s neck and hands clasped. “Better?”

Ben gave him a smile, “Much. Thank you, Alex.” 

“Anything for you.” He gave Ben’s neck one last squeeze before sliding over his shoulder and down his arm. “Now let's go get some food, I think we could both use it.”  
  
They got up and headed towards the kitchen, Alex’s hand at the small of his back, guiding him with another point of contact until they reached the kitchen. It was amazing how much more Ben felt  _ himself _ after a short time alone with Alex. Able to tease, and joke, and troll, and laugh with the others. He hoped not too many people would notice the difference in his tone, and responses in the recording. He’d just have to make up for it by being a bit extra, in the second half, something he could  _ easily _ do.


End file.
